Failed
by Lunaverserocks
Summary: Aang attempted to remove Ozai's bending but he has failed and the Phoenix King has now started showing signs of being able to airbend. He runs away from his battle in order to rendezvous with the rest of the Gaang before things get worse and hope is lost.
1. Failed

Full Summary:

Aang tried to take away Ozai's ability to bend but he failed…miserably. Now, he is left with no ability to bend after the Phoenix King has stolen his bending. Ozai is already showing signs of being able to airbend, and things can only get worse. The world is crumbling after they accomplished so much, and the group begins to wonder if hope will ever reenter their hearts.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, but I did enjoy the television show and had a spark of inspiration after watching the last two episodes of the show today.

I hope that you enjoy the story. I would like to hear your opinion. Should I continue this? I left it short, but the chapters will be longer later, if you enjoy the plot.

!

Katara stiffened when she heard the news. Zuko was standing next to her, rubbing his eyes and contemplating what they were going to do. They were trapped in the Fire Nation right after they had taken it back from Azula's harsh fist. There were signs of joy that the war was finally over, but the news that they had just received brought about a rebellion which pushed Katara and Zuko into hiding in the catacombs beneath the palace with a grumpy Appa at their side. Aang could no longer bend and the Phoenix King was showing signs of being able to airbend.

"What happened? What could Aang have done to cause him to lose his bending?" Katara asked in a low voice.

Zuko shook his head. "We won't know until we take Appa back to the camp near Ba Sing Se. That is the rendezvous point that we agreed on if something went wrong."

Katara nodded and opened her water pouch. Zuko was still in pain and the least she could do was attempt to heal him again after they had fled in such a rush. Katara pursed her lips as she worked. She wanted to see Aang. What did he do? The question still stung her mind.

!

Aang huffed out deep breaths as he hid from the Phoenix King. The lionturtle said that he had to have a pure heart in order to take away bending or else evil would take over. He shuddered as he tried to perform his favorite airbending trick and found that he couldn't. His mind was working frantically because Sokka, Toph, and Suki were still in the aircrafts and unable to escape without causing a scene. Katara and Zuko were still taking back the Fire Nation, and there was no word on their rate of success.

Aang could hear callous laughs and the sound of rushing wind. He held closer to the tree behind him as the wind tugged at his clothing, urging him out of his hiding spot. Ozai had stolen his bending.

Everything was going wrong! His mind was attacking himself. He could see Ozai before him, cowering after he had just caught the lightening. He redirected it into the air! Why didn't he just end Ozai's life? The lionturtle had told him that there could be a risk and he thought that simply removing the man's bending would be the better option. He shivered while he was thinking. What would happen to Toph, Sokka, Suki, Katara and Zuko? He had failed them.

He darted through the trees, still running away from the beckoning flames that were destroying the foliage around him. They would have to rendezvous at the camp near Ba Sing Se.

!

"What happened?" Suki said with a tinge of fear in her voice. "Aang disappeared after that flash of red light."

Sokka stared off of the top of the craft. He frowned and squinted his eyes to get accustomed to the distance. "Something is wrong. The Fire Lord is…moving air?" he whispered. He opened his eyes wider at the sight of the Fire Lord creating a large and out of control tornado. "We have to get out of here. Katara and Zuko will get the news shortly. We have to get to the rendezvous point in order to regroup and get the whole story. Hopefully, Aang is not hurt."

Toph grabbed for Suki's hand and they entered the aircraft in order to get off of the top. They ran through hallways unnoticed, but found it difficult to escape while high in the air. They entered the control room and took over thanks to Toph's metalbending. They landed the aircraft and escaped without being caught.

!

"What did you say?" Iroh asked, deeply in shock of the news he had just heard.

Jeong Jeong stared for a short while and then cleared his throat. They were sitting in the palace of the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se and had just received the terrible news. He reread the letter from Zuko which had just arrived moments ago via messenger hawk. "Phoenix King Ozai has defeated Aang and is showing signs of being able to airbend." He looked at Iroh, his eyes hardened from years of bad news. "We must come up with another plan. The Avatar…" his eyes turned to face the ground. He knew that having hope in a child was trivial. He looked back up at Iroh, "has failed."

Bumi snorted in the background. "I know Aang. He could not have failed."

Iroh looked at all of his White Lotus companions. "We will find out eventually. Katara and Zuko are coming back to Ba Sing Se. Since Aang has…" he paused, "failed us, we can only wait for their return. We were victorious in recapturing Ba Sing Se. And from the beginning of the letter, Zuko said that he had taken back the Fire Nation."

Jeong Jeong started to breathe heavy. "We can only wait now."

!

You have reached the end of this chapter. I hope that you enjoyed it and are begging for more. I came up with this story after watching the last couple of episodes in the third book and wondered… "hmmm, what would have happened if…"

Those types of questions can get you in trouble, but I was still curious after a couple of hours, so I hope that you enjoyed this.

Please review and tell me where you think this should lead to, what I should improve, etc.

Thank you for reading.


	2. A New Plan

**I own nothing.**

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><p>Aang stared at Appa once he saw him in the distance. There was nothing that he could do but keep walking. He no longer had the ability to bend and his mind was in turmoil. "What did I do?" he asked himself. The thoughts of the lionturtle telling him about a pure heart started to invade his mind. "I did have a pure heart, mind, and soul…what happened?"<p>

The great beast to the side groaned upon seeing his owner and people started to walk towards the giant furry animal. "Appa, we have to wait for Aang," Katara whispered, "I know that you miss him." She was rubbing his massive head as she tried to comfort him. She turned and saw Aang standing in the shadows of the rocks which surrounded the camp. He was slumped over, as if he didn't want to be seen, and he held his staff limply at his side. She could see the burns in his clothing and the scars from the battle.

Katara was at first frightened by this shadowy figure, but after she saw the glint of firelight off of his bald head, she knew that it was Aang. "AANG!" she screamed as she ran over to the exhausted Avatar. He looked up at her, but said nothing. Katara embraced him warmly, but he did nothing other than stand there.

"I have failed," Aang muttered, his eyes glistening over with tears.

Katara stared deeply into the eyes of the first boy that she had ever kissed. "Aang, you tried your best, that is all we ever wanted," Katara said in a hush.

Aang turned away and gave out a deep sigh. The Water Tribe girl standing beside him, trying to give him comfort was curious and in shock, but she was trying to be courteous. The others had heard her screams and soon, Toph had run over with Zuko, Sokka, and Suki immediately behind her.

"Twinkle Toes!" Toph screamed with relief. "I can't feel the difference between you and anybody else anymore." She looked to the ground with her blind eyes and knew that she had said something awful. Aang rubbed the old tears from his eyes, but they were quickly replaced. Katara put a strong and comforting arm around Aang's shoulders and led him to the fire where Iroh, Piando, Jeong Jeong, King Bumi, and others were waiting.

Aang entered the firelight and King Bumi quickly stood up from the stool that he had made out of earth. "Aang?" he said with a tinge of curiosity. "You tried, that's all we ever wanted," he said, lying.

Aang winced because he knew when his friend was being untruthful. He had heard that phrase twice now, how many more times would he have to endure their sorrow? He sat down on the dirt, rubbing at the burns at his side. He sat his staff down beside him. A part of him wanted to burn the horrible object because he could no longer even open it. Sokka sat next to him and pulled out a map. "We met the Fire Lord here," he said, pointing at the coastline of the Earth Kingdom. He glanced at Aang, who was staring at the map, tears lining his silver pupils. "We need to come up with another plan before the war reaches us." Sokka looked around at the group of people who had fought the Fire Nation with all that they had. His eyes rested on the Air Nomad, the only one that had failed them.

"Sokka, how long do you think that we have?" Zuko asked. Everybody looked at the Water Tribe boy who was staring intently at the map. The boy who had become a man on his journey with the Avatar looked up at people he was now proud to call his family.

"We probably have a couple of days, tops," he said.

Jeong Jeong stared through the flames. He was looking at the Air Nomad with his hands wound in front of his mouth. "First," he started, everybody turned their heads to the deserter with their ears perked high; this man was wise, and he rarely spoke. "First," he stated again, staring directly at Aang's arrow, "we should find out what happened."

Aang looked up. He saw Katara and spoke to her. She would be the one to understand everything; even if he didn't know what had exactly happened. "I…" his voice was weak, "I spent the night on the back of a lionturtle learning about _what_ I should do to the Fire Lord. I couldn't kill him, and I had a conversation with some of my past lives, but they did little to sooth my thoughts. As I neared the coast, the lionturtle told me that I could take away his bending. But," he turned his gaze to Iroh, "the lionturtle said that I had to have a strong mind, body, and soul in order to do this, or I would be overpowered."

"But, you were winning," Suki said. Her voice broke the small silence that had overcome the conversation.

Aang looked at her. "Yes, I _was_."

Katara grasped Aang's shoulder. "You tried," she whispered.

Aang stood up, threw Katara's hand off of his shoulder, and walked away from the group. Katara ran after him.

"We need to come up with a new plan," Sokka said. "Anybody have any ideas?"

-!-

Katara caught up with Aang as he sat down behind a tent, far away from the group. "Aang, I'm being serious. That was all that we ever wanted," she whispered, sitting next to him.

Aang looked up at the Water Tribe girl, his eyes tearing up. "Katara," he squeaked, "you didn't feel what I felt. The Fire Lord is…" he thought for a good word, "too strong. He is too evil; he has gone too far."

Katara grabbed for Aang's hand. "We can still beat him. We have something that he doesn't."

Aang looked at his friend as he smeared his tears with the inside of his arm. "What?"

-!-

Sokka smiled at his map. "We can do that," he said. The firelight flickered as Zuko tried to finish his idea.

"If we can get them, then we can hopefully fight off Azula. If we bring her down, my uncle and I can bring down my father." Iroh stared at his nephew.

"Zuko, I already explained to you that I cannot do that. It will do nothing for the balance of the world," Iroh said while he rubbed his eyes. He was starting to get a headache, and the firelight was not helping.

"What choice do we have, Uncle?" Zuko asked. "The balance has already been destroyed. There is nothing else that we can do. My father can _airbend_! I do not want to see him perform any more acts of bending."

Iroh looked at Jeong Jeong. "We have to think of something else. We cannot risk setting _them_ free."

Zuko smiled. "They betrayed her. We have the upper hand."

Sokka folded up his map. "Looks like Zuko and I are going on another adventure," he said with a smile.

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><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


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